french pancakes

My Grandma, Phyllis, and Grandpa, Kyran - at the races in 1948.

Welcome to my new blog. I started this blog because my Mum gave me her Grandmother's handwritten recipe book. It is falling apart and some of the writing is barely legible (it's all in pencil!) and one of my most treasured possessions. Since I got it, I have asked so many questions about the women in my family and marvelled over the recipes - which are more just a list of ingredients than any sort of method. Which I find fascinating, as that is how I myself cook, and how my Mother taught me. I imagine the tastes I want to combine, and go for it. I don't know what I am doing most of the time, but I love to cook, and mostly my creations come out pretty well. I hope you will have fun sharing this journey with me. I hope to make all of the recipes in the book, all written in a ledger, and share them with you here. (There's everything from Ginger Sponge cakes to Hop Beer!). I look very forward to many happy hours of cooking, exploring my family history, and hearing from you too. Here's the first recipe, - I haven't made it yet, but can't wait to do so! 


French Pancakes 


2 eggs
2 oz butter
2 oz flour
2 oz sugar
½ pint milk


~ beat butter to a cream
~ add the eggs well beaten
~ stir in the sugar and the flour
~ and when well-mixed add milk slightly warm
~ beat the mixture for a few minutes, put on buttered plates
~ bake in a quick oven for 20 minutes

serve with lemon and sifted sugar
 

december 2nd update

So, I finally made the pancakes. I thought they would be a nice treat for my husband, who got sick right in time for Thanksgiving. He never gets sick. This was the Thanksgiving we were hosting for the first time since being married. Er, hum, that would be the first time in five years. We love cooking, and having people over, and were so excited about it, but it didn't happen (that day, we did do a belated turkey-day)! So, instead of turkey I cooked him pancakes for breakfast instead - and we stayed at home and watched a Swedish Vampire Love story. Somehow, just as enjoyable....

The pancakes verdict?

Here's my notes...

~ a 'quick' oven means around 400 farenheit.

~ I had imagined the pancakes to be more like crepes, but they are quite 'eggy', almost like custard.

~ Yummy, but they may need to be cooked on smaller plates. A dinner plate sized eggy pancake was a bit too much!

~ We used lemon curd instead of lemon juice and sugar. Very delicious.

~ I might cook them a little longer next time. 

~ I also might beat them the correct amount of time. And invest in an egg beater. I am not always patient and I probably mixed for 30 seconds, with a fork, and not very well. Still, they came out good!